Bristow noted that the depletion of the world's mature goldfields had shifted gold miners' focus to new regions, notably in Africa. Despite the continuing fallback in supply from South Africa, once the world's largest gold producer, Africa still accounted for 20% of global gold output, thanks to the recent growth of the gold mining industries elsewhere on the continent, notably in West Africa."Considering the continent's vast mineral wealth, however, it still has a long way to go to deliver on its full potential," Bristow said."Investors are deterred by the political and infrastructural risks associated with Africa, but in Cote d'Ivoire we have shown how these challenges can be overcome by a true partnership between a mining company, the government and the people."

This spirit of cooperation was evident in the process of formulating the new code, said Bristow, and he was sure that the country's mining companies would also be involved in the finalisation of the decree of application which will lay down the rules for the code's implementation. "It's now all about delivery by the government as well as the industry, but the principle has already been established that this country needs business partners, not barriers. That applies to the rest of the continent as well," he said.

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